The Creeping Mess and other Housework Dilemmas

How many of you have noticed the advice regarding housework once children come along? Generally it goes along the line of not worrying about it, because the kids are more important. I guess that’s one point, the other is that the effects of tidying up don’t last long with kiddies around. A mother on a forum had this quote in her signature: “Tidying up while your children are growing is like shovelling snow while it’s still snowing.”

It just so happens that today I noticed the suitcase. The one from our trip to Greece for a friend’s wedding. Three weeks ago. It’s lying near the window in our bedroom, and on it a growing pile of debris. I can’t put it away yet because there are still things inside, things that were handy for sunny Greece but not quite needed in pre-Winter Poland. Hmmm. Are my standards falling?

The fact that our place is clean (and it’s ok to feel a momentary stab of hatred for me at this point), is thanks to our full-time housekeeper. But she isn’t exactly going to go through our suitcase, is she? Guess I could ask her, but there’s my own pride to consider. That’s why I try to unpack within a day of getting back from any trips. It just didn’t work this time.

But that is not the “creeping mess” I refer to in my title. The creeping mess is what oozes out of the kids’ bedroom and spreads to infest the apartment with no notice. (As I write, an unconfirmed number of coloured magnetic letters litter my bedside chest of drawers. They've only been there 3, max. 4 days. But the baby doll dummy in my jewellery bowl - at least 2 weeks, while its open-mouthed owner lies 2 meteres or so away, in the kids' room next door.)

Every once in a while a big tidy-up is done. Recently, we hosted a large get-together at our place and all the living room toys were evacuated. But they were back with double strength before you could bat an eyelid. That’s not too bad though, because we rarely have anyone over that needs entertaining in the living room. The worst are hallways, kitchen, bathroom and our bedroom. I have slept with toys the presence of which I was unaware until I rolled onto them. Recently I discovered a long-since missing fireman figure in with our Christmas gift-wrapping. But how happy we all are to have him back! And I have had the pleasure of being unable to put on a shoe because of some small plaything wedged inside.

Back in February we were renting a holiday house in Yeppoon Australia, and the agent phoned one day to let us know someone would be in to change our bedding. I swept around the living room like a madwoman clearing the debris of game pieces, books, DVDs, recently washed children’s clothing and play-doh just in case our mess got reported back to the agent. “Are we having guests, Mum?” K asked, surprised at this sudden frenzy of housework.

Aren't kids perceptive? I am in my best tidy-up mode when guests are expected. That’s when I run around and clear things that have been lying in their places sometimes for months. The tiny kitchen windowsill is a great example of where things like to pile up. As are the tops of the kitchen cupboards. Another time when I am fantastic for cleaning and tidying, general maintenance and small renovations is when I’m pregnant – that nesting instinct sure is a bonus, I'd say possibly the second best thing about pregnancy, other than the baby. However that is not likely to ever happen again, so I have to satisfy myself with the odd guest dropping by.

Hardly worth putting that suitcase away though, we’ll need it for our next trip in a month's time!